IN WINTER QUARTERS 133 



Harrigan acquired this sobriquet on account of 

 his ear for music. The crew used to be fond of singing 

 that energetic Irish air which was popular for some 

 years along Broadway and which concludes ungram- 

 matically with the words "Harrigan — that's me." The 

 Eskimo in question seemed fascinated by this song 

 and in time learned those three words and practised 

 them with so much assiduity that he was ultimately 

 able to sing them in a manner not wholly uncouth. 



In addition to his musical leanings, Harrigan was 

 a practical joker, and on one occasion he was exer- 

 cising his humorous talents in the forecastle to the 

 considerable discomfort of one of the crew. Ultimately 

 the sailor, unable to rid himself of his persecutor in 

 any other way, resorted to the use of his fists. The 

 Eskimos, while good wrestlers, are far from adepts 

 at the "manly art of self-defense," and the result 

 was that Harrigan emerged from the forecastle with 

 a well-blackened eye and a keen sense of having been 

 ill used. He complained bitterly of his treatment, 

 but I gave him a new shirt and told him to keep away 

 from the forecastle where the sailors were, and in a few 

 hours he had forgotten it like a school boy, so that 

 the affair passed off without leaving any permanent 

 ill feeling, and soon Harrigan was again cheerfully 

 croaking his "Harrigan — that's me." 



